Event Safety, Risk Assessments, UK compliance and Safety Documents

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🎙️ Risk Ready UK Stay informed. Stay compliant. Risk Ready UK is your go-to podcast for staying up to date with the latest UK safety legislation — including Martyn’s Law, HSE updates, and event compliance. Whether you're an event organiser, venue manager, or safety lead, we break down complex regulations into clear, actionable advice to help you create and maintain robust, legally sound risk assessments. Tune in for expert insights, real-world examples, and practical tips to protect your people, your reputation, and your event.

  1. Enhancing Perceptions of Security, July 2025 SRI Report

    12/12/2025

    Enhancing Perceptions of Security, July 2025 SRI Report

    The research aimed to identify actions necessary to enhance the perception of private security, revealing that views within the sector itself are mixed. Strikingly, less than half (45%) of security professionals surveyed held a positive view of the sector, and only 20% believed the general perception in society is positive. Security professionals identified the police, politicians, and the general public as the groups likely to hold the most negative perceptions. Two major barriers impede image improvement: 1. Lack of Recognition of Value (79% barrier): This is largely a conceptual challenge, as security is primarily viewed as a "cost centre" where success is defined by the "absence" of negative outcomes. This paradox leads to undervaluation, causing security to slide down corporate priorities. Consequently, key roles such as frontline security officers and guarding companies are considered the least recognised for their value. This lack of recognition overlooks the critical societal role private security plays in filling resource gaps and reducing the burden on public resources to protect people and places. 2. Actual Performance Weaknesses (75% barrier): This practical issue undermines professionalism and includes concerns over poor recruitment practices, insufficient training, lack of skills (especially communication), and poor appearance among frontline individuals. Interviewees highlighted a major paradox: frontline officers are often perceived as low-skilled and low-paid, yet they carry immense responsibilities, putting themselves at risk and dealing with abuse and violence to keep people safe. This issue is exacerbated by client demands to buy "cheap" security, fostering a "race to the bottom" where suppliers cut corners, perpetuating poor quality provision. Since no single shortcoming exists, a multi-pronged approach is necessary to gain respect, as all explored actions were highly valued. The top-rated actions (90% importance) focus on enhancing competence and strategic value: • Demonstrate that security leaders are as competent as other business leaders. • Demonstrate that private security acts as an 'enabler' (allowing organisations, events, and sites to operate successfully). • Raise better awareness of the full range of work and skills across private security beyond frontline roles. • Promote procurement practices that prioritise obtaining good-quality security products and services. A crucial prerequisite to enhancing perception is tackling the weak points in the quality of security delivered. At safetydocs.org we are building apps to give security professionals the information thats live and in the palm of their hands

    35 min
  2. Vehicle Ramming Trends

    11/19/2025

    Vehicle Ramming Trends

    Vehicle Ramming Attacks: Tracking the Surge in a Growing Global Threat Explore the crucial findings from the Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI) on the global phenomenon of vehicle ramming attacks (VRAs). Drawing on MTI’s proprietary database, which catalogues thousands of attacks against public surface transportation dating back to January 1970, this description summarises an update examining the frequency, lethality, and necessary mitigation measures concerning this tactic. The report highlights a recent, significant surge, with 27 vehicle ramming attacks reported worldwide during the nine months ending July 31, 2025. Since 2012, the vast majority of these incidents have occurred in economically more advanced countries (Group 1 countries). The United States has experienced the most attacks (85) since 2012, followed by Israel and the Palestinian Territories (70). Crucially, the volume of attacks and the number of fatalities are both gradually increasing over time in the U.S.. The motivation behind these attacks is complex: while some are ideologically or terrorist-motivated (such as the deadly 2025 New Orleans attack, the deadliest VRA in the United States, carried out by an army veteran claiming allegiance to ISIS), others stem from non-ideological factors. Mental health issues are commonly reported in many cases. Attacks are often observed to occur in clusters, demonstrating a contagion effect. We detail the factors that make these incidents lethal, including attacks involving larger, faster vehicles in crowded, narrow spaces, and the high lethality seen in attacks on pedestrianised streets and public gatherings in Group 1 countries. High-casualty incidents often involve rented or stolen vehicles. The research supports considerations for adapting transportation planning, street design, and event security to the growing threat. Although VRAs can achieve high body counts, the risk of death or capture for perpetrators (approximately 27.1 percent) is a significant barrier compared to historical airline hijackings.

    34 min
  3. Public Behaviour and Hostile Crowd Threats

    11/19/2025

    Public Behaviour and Hostile Crowd Threats

    This podcast explores new evidence and foundational assumptions concerning public behaviour during perceived hostile threats, such as marauding terrorist attacks (MTAs) and crowd flight incidents resulting from false alarms. We challenge the widespread misconception of "mass panic" and "mindless stampedes," which often fail to account for observable actions in real emergencies and historical events like the 1943 Bethnal Green tube shelter disaster. Instead, evidence consistently points to collective resilience, where significant numbers of people cooperate, support each other, and interact socially within the incident itself. This cooperation often stems from an emergent shared social identity, forged by the experience of common fate. We investigate why false alarm flight incidents occur so frequently in crowded spaces like transport hubs and shopping centres. These events, such as the high-profile Oxford Street false alarm in 2017, are rarely sudden or impulsive. They are often triggered by a combination of factors: the context of recent genuine terrorist attacks providing a framing for threat perception, and the urgent behaviour or communications of other people (a process known as social appraisal). Even during an urgent flight, observed public behaviour is diverse, including hiding, seeking/sharing information, walking away, and supportive actions. Furthermore, we analyse the complex actions of "zero responders"—members of the public who spontaneously intervene against visible attackers. Analysis of the 2015 Leytonstone tube station knife attack reveals a sophisticated, spontaneous coordination where individuals adopt complementary roles such as defending, communicating, and providing first aid. The research provides crucial recommendations for policymakers and practitioners to facilitate cooperative behaviour. This includes embedding the psychology of public behaviour in training, prioritising informative and actionable crisis communication over simple emotional reassurances, and building long-term trust with the public. We also discuss how providing resources like first aid kits in transport infrastructure can enable members of the public to act more effectively as zero responders.

    36 min

About

🎙️ Risk Ready UK Stay informed. Stay compliant. Risk Ready UK is your go-to podcast for staying up to date with the latest UK safety legislation — including Martyn’s Law, HSE updates, and event compliance. Whether you're an event organiser, venue manager, or safety lead, we break down complex regulations into clear, actionable advice to help you create and maintain robust, legally sound risk assessments. Tune in for expert insights, real-world examples, and practical tips to protect your people, your reputation, and your event.